The first day was what one generally expects from a first day of high school: awkward ice breakers, learning names and instantly forgetting them because you didn't remind yourself to make a conscious effort to pay attention, suddenly feeling dwarfed by the seniors you wedged past in the hallway, and making the first of (admittedly too few) attempts to get to class on time. However, it quickly dawned on me that this was not a traditional high school. I knew this going in: this school had small classes (my graduating class contained 69 kids) and focused on STEM fields with an emphasis on hands-on work and a number of science and math classes far beyond state requirements. I knew the school would be great for me, but I did not know how different it would be from a traditional suburban American high school. Of course, the big difference was that this high school was nearly an hour away from where I lived, and I only knew about five kids who went there. No, I didn't move to a different town; I took the bus from my hometown of Point Pleasant, NJ down (way down) the parkway to Manahawkin to attend the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES), a magnet school for math and science for kids from all over Ocean County. Instead of going to the high school that was so close to my house that I'd heard the band practicing every summer for my whole life, I decided it was worth a long trip to attend a school with a special focus on marine science, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. One of the first things I did in high school was go on a two-day overnight kayaking and science research trip to Sedge Island, part of the protected estuarine area of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. I'd made some close friends in the school already, but even in a freshman class of only seventy and in my much smaller biology class, there were many people I barely knew. Sedge changed that. Kids who had barely spoken before became entertainers, cracking jokes and changing overnight. During the days, we seined and went fishing, kayaking, and clamming. The trip was only the beginning of four years with at least one semester per year of going out "in the field" every week to collect data and work on independent and class research projects. I took marine biology, aquatic ecology, environmental science, and oceanography (the last two for college credit as well as high school credit) and the semesters I didn't take those I had lab courses: chemistry, computer science, geographic information systems (GIS), physics, and biotechnology (the last two of which I also got college credit for). The field classes especially gave me a head start to the career I hope to have as a marine biologist; I learned how to write professional scientific research papers, use many different tools for data collection, and plan and conduct group and independent research projects. I also joined many clubs, the most unique of which definitely being Project Terrapin, a club in which I took care of northern diamondback terrapins, a species of turtle that can only live in brackish water, where fresh and salt water meet. The club got me started doing what I hope to do professionally, caring for and raising awareness about species under threat. Once a week in the winter, I ran the branch of the club that taught middle and elementary school children about marine science, and that reaffirmed my interest in teaching science professionally. I even got to address the NJ State Senate Environment and Energy Committee to testify in favor of legislation to remove the northern diamondback terrapin from the state's game species list, which would make it illegal to harvest terrapins. That day was most likely not the last time I will testify on behalf of a species or an area, so it was a wonderful experience to have. The teacher who ran Project Terrapin was the most influential teacher I had. He was my mentor since I was a freshman in the club, and I eventually got to know him better by the time I was a senior and a leader in the organization. He was always so busy, being an administrator in the school as well as a teacher, scientist, and something of a public relations person for the terrapins. Yet he still found time to really care about his students, doing everything he could to help them get into any college or summer program they wanted to participate in, never denying a recommendation letter, though he always had many to write. He influenced the type of scientist I want to be, the kind who writes papers and does research to solve problems and make a positive change for the environment, and the type of teacher I want to be, the kind who truly cares about their students and wants them to realize the potential he sees in them. MATES transformed me. I was constantly surrounded by other kids who were driven academically and for the most part motivated by their desires for careers in STEM fields. My fellow students helped me throughout school and made me see the hope for science professionals in the future, but also showed me the kind of people I would be competing with for college admissions, internships, and jobs. The highly motivated students at my school drove me to work hard and give everything my best effort, valuable skills I will carry with me throughout my college and professional life. My teachers also made me the scientist, student, and teacher I am today. They taught me how to conduct independent and group research projects and write scientific research proposals and papers and also gave me notice of many opportunities for research and hands-on work inside and outside of school. They also showed me how to teach science to engage both advanced and somewhat struggling students. The experiences I had in MATES turned me into a young adult who is comfortable working professionally in her field, writing well in wide array of styles for different audiences, and teaching young children and high school students about my passion, science.
The first day was what one generally expects from a first day of high school: awkward ice breakers, learning names and instantly forgetting them because you didn't remind yourself to make a conscious effort to pay attention, suddenly feeling dwarfed by the seniors you wedged past in the hallway, and making the first of (admittedly too few) attempts to get to class on time. However, it quickly dawned on me that this was not a traditional high school. I knew this going in: this school had small classes (my graduating class contained 69 kids) and focused on STEM fields with an emphasis on hands-on work and a number of science and math classes far beyond state requirements. I knew the school would be great for me, but I did not know how different it would be from a traditional suburban American high school.
Of course, the big difference was that this high school was nearly an hour away from where I lived, and I only knew about five kids who went there. No, I didn't move to a different town; I took the bus from my hometown of Point Pleasant, NJ down (way down) the parkway to Manahawkin to attend the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES), a magnet school for math and science for kids from all over Ocean County. Instead of going to the high school that was so close to my house that I'd heard the band practicing every summer for my whole life, I decided it was worth a long trip to attend a school with a special focus on marine science, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.
One of the first things I did in high school was go on a two-day overnight kayaking and science research trip to Sedge Island, part of the protected estuarine area of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. I'd made some close friends in the school already, but even in a freshman class of only seventy and in my much smaller biology class, there were many people I barely knew. Sedge changed that. Kids who had barely spoken before became entertainers, cracking jokes and changing overnight. During the days, we seined and went fishing, kayaking, and clamming. The trip was only the beginning of four years with at least one semester per year of going out "in the field" every week to collect data and work on independent and class research projects. I took marine biology, aquatic ecology, environmental science, and oceanography (the last two for college credit as well as high school credit) and the semesters I didn't take those I had lab courses: chemistry, computer science, geographic information systems (GIS), physics, and biotechnology (the last two of which I also got college credit for). The field classes especially gave me a head start to the career I hope to have as a marine biologist; I learned how to write professional scientific research papers, use many different tools for data collection, and plan and conduct group and independent research projects.
I also joined many clubs, the most unique of which definitely being Project Terrapin, a club in which I took care of northern diamondback terrapins, a species of turtle that can only live in brackish water, where fresh and salt water meet. The club got me started doing what I hope to do professionally, caring for and raising awareness about species under threat. Once a week in the winter, I ran the branch of the club that taught middle and elementary school children about marine science, and that reaffirmed my interest in teaching science professionally. I even got to address the NJ State Senate Environment and Energy Committee to testify in favor of legislation to remove the northern diamondback terrapin from the state's game species list, which would make it illegal to harvest terrapins. That day was most likely not the last time I will testify on behalf of a species or an area, so it was a wonderful experience to have.
The teacher who ran Project Terrapin was the most influential teacher I had. He was my mentor since I was a freshman in the club, and I eventually got to know him better by the time I was a senior and a leader in the organization. He was always so busy, being an administrator in the school as well as a teacher, scientist, and something of a public relations person for the terrapins. Yet he still found time to really care about his students, doing everything he could to help them get into any college or summer program they wanted to participate in, never denying a recommendation letter, though he always had many to write. He influenced the type of scientist I want to be, the kind who writes papers and does research to solve problems and make a positive change for the environment, and the type of teacher I want to be, the kind who truly cares about their students and wants them to realize the potential he sees in them.
MATES transformed me. I was constantly surrounded by other kids who were driven academically and for the most part motivated by their desires for careers in STEM fields. My fellow students helped me throughout school and made me see the hope for science professionals in the future, but also showed me the kind of people I would be competing with for college admissions, internships, and jobs. The highly motivated students at my school drove me to work hard and give everything my best effort, valuable skills I will carry with me throughout my college and professional life. My teachers also made me the scientist, student, and teacher I am today. They taught me how to conduct independent and group research projects and write scientific research proposals and papers and also gave me notice of many opportunities for research and hands-on work inside and outside of school. They also showed me how to teach science to engage both advanced and somewhat struggling students. The experiences I had in MATES turned me into a young adult who is comfortable working professionally in her field, writing well in wide array of styles for different audiences, and teaching young children and high school students about my passion, science.